Austria

Ostrich Republic!?  Oh no, that wasn't the country we were looking for...

Well welcome to late October in Austria!  It gets dark (and I mean star-gazing, pitch-black, using-all-your-bike-lights-dark) at 5:30 pm.  We also have hit the phase where we are wearing all our layers of (smart) wool, wrapping our feet in extra plastic baggies (intended for sanitary napkins, gleaned from bathroom stalls), using electric hand-driers in bathrooms to toast up our hands, gloves, socks and shoes, and are now eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.  It's fantastic!

We were welcomed into Austria (from Czechia) with ~ 15 km of straight UP.  It was gentle, we rocked out to Robyn and actually it was not so bad, but it was really up-up-up for almost 2 hours.  Shortly over the border in Bad Leonfelden, as the welcome descent was beginning, we treated ourselves to some cream pie (aka Malakofftorte) and tea at a locally famous spot, Kastner's, and bundled up for more down-hill.

note the Kombucha bottle menu-holder

rock sugar --dad you should use this, it's beautiful!

Bad Leonfelden

more sights from the descent into Gallneukirchen:

That evening we spent a really unbelievably cozy night with Dr. Herbert and his wife Herta, ~ 15 km outside Linz, in Gallneukirchen, where we were greeted with their warm hands into a private room with large terry-cloth sheeted bed, thick comforters and a built-in stucco stove that toasted the whole room up. It is the most womb-like place I have ever been (besides Erin Sweeney's red-walled massage room, of course).  I nearly wept tears of joy, we had had a 20K downhill descent into the valley and the weather had turned towards a cold snap with icy winds.

garden view from our cozy abode

the amazing built in oven/heater creation

We were then fed a six course meal ("leftovers" from their dinner party that had been at 2 pm that day) featuring beets, pumpkins (and their seeds and oil!), horseradish, turkey, gnocchi, roasted seasonal roots, wild rocket salad (from their garden), Austrian wine and vanilla ice-cream.  Herbert is a retired professor of criminal law and Herta is a Feldenkreis bodyworker/healer.  They also serenaded us on guitar and recorder with a traditional Austrian wedding song and then an original waltz composed by Herbert.  Ross also played a few Beatles tunes with Herbert, who is a huge fan.  (He was in an apparently quite well-known Austrian folk-rock band in the '60s.)  It was a very cozy, nurturing and lovely evening.

 my kindred austrian garden elf spirit

The next day we headed off to Linz, quite late in the afternoon since it was hard to dis-entangle ourselves from the warm womb room.  We coasted down some more windy roads and arrived to the main square just before sunset.  We spent the night with Klemens and his sister, on their dining room floor, next to the glowing and bubbling fish tank.  We ate a typical dinner out at a recommended place, goulash soup is actually very tasty!  We also, of course, had dark beer, a bacon salad (?) and some roasted pork.  (Ross was in a state of despair the next day when he found out that Elvis Costello had been in Linz the same night we were wandering about eating goulash).  In the morning, we got an early start and hit the main square for a Linzer torte (dry? disappointing?) and a glazed plum treat that was pretty spectacular (stole the show?).

the linzer vs. the plum (plum wins!)

Back on the Danube now, Linz to Bratislava (via Vienna), it's nice to have it be a bit flatter and requiring less navigation, but it is a bit more boring than passing through charming towns and hilly curves. We had some really tough headwinds out of Linz and only did ~ 85 km (we had hoped to do at least 90-100), some of which was in the dark.  We camped along side a "kraftwerk" which is an industrial river port/bridge/passageway of sorts.  Austria is proving to be a bit more up-tight of the places we've been.  We are grasping at words like preppy, conservative, close-minded (Austrians are reportedly not that fond of the influx of immigrants here since the dissolving of former Yugoslavia, such a contrast with my impression of Germany/Berlin with open arms), and 80's haircuts (esp. the women, all short and spiky.   But we can't quite put words to it. Very sporty people.  Lots of fancy cars.

Also, not much "wild" land, it is all very civilized and cultivated, quite thickly settled, hard to find a place to camp (especially when we are squeezed between the railroad and river, with steep mountains on either side).  So, anyways, back to the kraftwerk: thought we were all alone until a high glistening cruise ship sailed through, close enough and slow enough to watch us flossing our teeth.  Then, about another 8 ships (barges, tug boats, etc) passed through, so it was not exactly private.  But, we slept well, arose early, and were able to make our oatmeal, pack up camp and get back on the road by 7:45 the next morning.

our industrial river port campsite

More headwinds!  Still flat, not all that interesting at first, then we came into the Wachau region, wine-county.  So many grapes!  Cute little towns nestled into the terraced mountain vineyards ( a la Peru), really impressive.  Just past season but still much harvesting and many grapes on the vines.  Mostly green grapes.  Started to feel the strain of a few long days of biking behind us and much more to go to Vienna, so we stopped for a late hot lunch in an old family-style basement/cavern spot.  Ate black-pudding ( i think this is blood sausage) and roasted potatoes, sauerkraut and a plate of sliced meats/cheese/horseradish and of course some local wine, and then pushed through the afternoon and evening to total ~ 100km.  The last ~ 40 km were after dark, and we were rewarded with a clear sky for star-gazing and a wide path with no-one else on it.  Crossed the river again and got to just outside Tulln, camped alongside the Danube in a sandy/leaf-covered cove.  Tried to watch a movie (The Third Man) in preparation for for our arrival to Vienna, so like Ross to have it all planned out media-wise.  

Wednesday, as I write, we have done the remaining 45 km towards Vienna and are sitting in a cafe preparing our top-10 list for Vienna (trying to be more organized as we arrive to cities so that we don't just collapse into energetically depleted heaps and miss out on these fabulous places).  Now we are in Vienna (it is several hours later) and at our hosts home, a small apartment 8 km outside Vienna's center where they live and work mon-fri, and travel 180km back to Slovakia each weekend.  They have a deep bath-tub which I got in approximately 22 minutes after arriving.  You know, the sequence went something like: hi, i'm elsa, how are you, thanks so much for hosting us, nice bath-tub, mind if i use it, i'll be right back….

Getting excited to see Nate in Belgrade in just over 3 weeks! Any my parents in a month in Istanbul!  Also excited to buy some better gloves and a woolen hat in Vienna.  And, eat sachertorte (for you, Hannah).  We already have had some special plum torte and apple strudel and malokov cake (the cream thing I mentioned above)…so many treats to try! 

As we have been on the bike-road for a month+, we are noticing how the intensity (and also fun independence!) of rural biking & camping  for 2-4 day stretches contrasts with the more indoor/urban/touristy scene that unfolds we get to cities.  Their interplay can cause some whiplas.  In one mode we are used to hoarding napkins from gas stations, squatting behind bushes, stealthily setting up camp after dark (but trying to have it still feel wholesome and cozy), eating every hour (going through entire loaves of bread in one day) and washing up in random bathrooms.  In the urban mode we are trying to use the internet, call our families, make warm shower plans, visit with our hosts (sometimes this is a wonderful but very full-time experience) and sight-see in the bountiful castles, palaces, museums, botanical gardens and aldstadts ("old cities")  All of which can be incredible but also exhausting and time-pressured.  So, we are trying to make more space in each setting and make the pace of each more restful and similar.  

Also, Ross loaded up my iPhone with the wedding party (& band) mix so that has been super fun to bike to. Man that was a good party with SUCH good music! I cried today when I heard the New Orleans horn parade song (Ben Richa Evan Carl Diane Abigail!)

Miss you all very much. I am especially missing the idea of "home" along with pumpkin-carving, apple-picking and brisk fall walks with my ladies.

See you soon!
love madame b.